Some time ago, I came across an implementation problem that I wanted to solve by consulting the Java EE 8 specifications. Since Jakarta EE 8 has exactly the same content as Java EE 8, but a much nicer web site, I decided to look them up there.

[Confusion]

When I opened the JSON-B specification page, I was rather surprised to find that it abruptly ended after a license statement and a one-line introduction. A few random samples showed that other specs were truncated as well (such as EJB or JPA).

[Doubt]

After a brief, unsuccessful search for an explanation, I remembered that the Eclipse Foundation provides a mailing list for Jakarta EE community discussions, which might be the right place to ask. But…

  • It is extremely unlikely that I am the first to notice this. There must be good explanation that I had just missed.
  • This mailing list has more than 800 subscribers. Do I really want to spam so many people with a potentially stupid question?
  • The Jakarta EE 9 specs (such as JSON-B 2.0) are complete and only differ in namespace, so who cares?

[Resolve]

Still, the question kept bugging me, and if I didn’t ask, I’d never find out. So I quickly created an Eclipse account (which is a prerequisite for being able to send messages to the mailing list), and posted my question (read access is provided by a public archive, which doesn’t require any registration).

[Enlightenment]

Just a few minutes later, I already received an answer by Steve Millidge (the founder of Payara) with a brief explanation and a pointer to the Jakarta EE 9 specs. After this, Lukas Jungmann (committer and project lead in various Jakarta EE projects) replied with even more detailed background information. And both of them did so without tarring and feathering me.

[Conclusion]

Join the community discussion - you will get fast, competent, and polite answers. And from time to time, the discussions might even contribute to Jakarta EE’s future development…